VANAGOONIES: Moths and Mysteries

Surely people have used a great many bathrooms in this world. Sometimes it's a hole they dug that serves as a toilet. Sometimes it's a bucket with a plastic bag inside. Sometimes theres a great view from the log they're sitting on. There have been gas station bathrooms with poop smeared all over the place like Hanky the Christmas poo was doing his best Picasso or Rembrandt impersonation in there earlier that day. Surly there are fancy hotels with untra soft toilet paper and a little sprinkler for cleaning your bum and there are cheap seedy motels with sandpaper on the roll. In all the many years of my travels, of my entire life really, and the great many toilet experiences there have been, never has there ever been a time when 15 or 20 moths decided to fly out of the toilet paper roll when I went to pull off a few squares... until now! Here's the scenario. You wake up fresh and ready. Make some coffee, have some oatmeal for breakfast and empty the mouse traps. (Ye intruders beware) Then you make your way over to the pit privy in the park. A block building with very little air flow greets you with a heavy stench emmitting from the open plastic lid over the hole. Following protocols that history has taught, you wipe the seat with a sanitizing wipe and sit to take care of business. All goes well and in less than a minute you are ready to clean yourself and get on with your day. You reach for the paper roll and pull gently on the hanging tabs. Then the unexpected startles you with objects that fall and fly and begin to swarm about the room! "OH MY GOD!!" "HOLY SHIT!" Followed by, "What the fuck is that?!" Do you jump up off the toilet? Probably a 99.99% chance.
Then you focus and realize what they are. Moths. Phew, they are only moths. If you weren't awake, you are now!

In other news we found some really interesting old stones... Artifacts of some sort. Petrified? Fossilized? Ancient for sure, but what exactly... I do not know.
Sometimes things are meant to be a mystery. Sometimes things are meant to be put in a museum. Sometimes they are meant to be taken home and kept as a momento. But sometimes things are meant to be left right where you found them. Today I found that out.
Teddy Roosevelt believed he could and should go out into the world and bring back specimens for science. He wanted them to be studied and then left on display for those who couldn't afford to or were not able to go out on their own to discover them. Indiana Jones believed that culturally important and rare items should also be on display or maybe studied by scientists. "It belongs in a museum!" Was his tag line.

On the way to a slot canyon inside Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, there is a sign that reads, "No Collecting". No collecting of what? It does not say. Further investigation at this point has not lead me to any real solid answers but the pieces of history that were found I decided would be best left for others to discover on their own. Maybe 500 or 1000 years from now, a young adventurous family will venture out to see the slot canyon. Maybe it will be thousands of years from now and the slot canyon is wider. In either case, wouldn't it be much more exciting for a child in that family to sift through the sand in the washout and discover the fragments left behind by those who dared venture out before them? Had the landscape been deprived of these artifacts, the only wonder for those people to discover could be a mere tunnel like cavity. Not that slot canyons in and of themselves are not an incredible spectacle, an incredible experience, because they are. But, finding treasures that were buried millions of years ago, that were then encased in stone, frozen in time for centuries, and then unearthed by the forces of nature, this my friends is an experience to behold!

What other mysteries are being unearthed on this journey? Are we guided? Is there a thing such as fate? What does it really mean to be a Dharma bum? Is it not just following your inner spirit? If your purpose is to be in accord with the Tao, "The Way" then the Qi, the life force, should guide our actions in accord. If we encounter each day with Wu Wei, or unforced spontaneity or effortless action, shouldn't the life we are living feel as though everything is right in the world? Often, I feel like it does. Then there are days where the little monkey brain voice inside my head tries to act as though it is in control. What happens then? Frustration happens! That's what happens. Yeilding seems to lead to outcomes that are pleasant. There are less anxieties. Making a plan to go climbing, and then encountering "by chance" other climbers who are interested in having you join them for a sport climb, seems less likely when you are out of alignment. Is there really a guiding force? Are we out here floating like a bird riding on thermals? Are we swished around by unseen currents?
Afloat in lake Powell, one can feel the forces of nature on one's self. The cool temperature of the liquid. The warmth of the sun. The waves created by the winds or the ripples sent to the shore by passing boats. Afloat, we are set in motion by the natural world. If we use a fresh mind to see the world, to experiemce each moment as though it were the first moment of its kind, being the "uncarved block" of intention, attention and experience, then as the world unfolds before us, amazing mysteries and experiences aught to unfold before our very eyes. I challenge you to try it.
Lately, we have found that we are leaving a trail of chance encounters behind and each one seems to have us feeling a little better for having had the experience. When the intention is to be immersed in our current reality we no longer see the divisions. We see the links that bring us together. This being said, I've given and received. I have given physical objects, and received food or shelter in return. I have given energy and love and have received them both as well. I have experienced the beauty of grand places and have been visited by humming birds while meditating. The seals and sea lions of coastal California sing and dance in the water for me, while the flowers bloom and spread pleasant aromas through the air for me to smell. I feel the ocean breeze and the rays of sunshine on my skin. The winds might sweep me your way and I hope they do. For I look forward to the experiences we will share, though I know not what they will be. Continue to be kind to one another. Have love and compassion, for the Dali Lama says they are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity can not survive.